Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Should Head To 3DS

If Square Enix has its way, 2012 will be the year of Kingdom Hearts, at least in Japan.

Just look at what the publisher has in store for 3DS owners. March 29 marks the release of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. That's huge by itself, but the company has upped the ante with an exclusive Kingdom Hearts branded 3DS system, as well as a 10th Anniversary Box that comes with KH3D, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded.

Originally released in 2010, the sixth installment in the series received praise from both critics and fans, going on to sell over 1.7 million copies worldwide for good reason, as developers once again crafted an engaging story populated by various Disney characters and environments, including Cinderella, Peter Pan and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. There was even a cool Kingdom Hearts branded PSP.

Now we know a lot of people scoff at the notion of ports, and they have a point. If we had to choose between new games or old ones, new wins every single time, but the fact remains that millions of Nintendo fans missed out on playing Birth by Sleep, and with over 15 million 3DS handhelds sold, there's great potential to put this adventure in front of paying consumers.

Of course, we don't know how easy it would be to port a PSP game to 3DS. Square Enix would have to shove all those cut scenes and the music onto a cartridge, but considering the work Konami did in bringing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater from PlayStation 2 to 3DS, we'd like to think it's doable.

Besides, Square Enix doesn't seem too willing to put Birth by Sleep on PlayStation Network. It was one of several PSP hits noticeably absent when Sony released the ill-fated PSP Go in 2009.

Point being, give the 3DS its due, feed the audience and deliver Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep to Nintendo fans. They already have a handful of KH games to choose from, going back to the Game Boy Advance. 3DS owners would welcome it with open arms.